We relate the pressure "dip" observed at the bottom of a sand pile prepared by successive avalanches to the stress profile obtained on sheared granular layers in response to a localized vertical overload. We show that, within a simple anisotropic elastic analysis, the skewness and the tilt of the response profile caused by shearing provide a qualitative agreement with the sand pile dip effect. ...

We present the design and verification of a desktop system for the automated production of nanostructured thin films via spin-assisted layer-by-layer (spin-LBL) assembly. The utility of this system is demonstrated by fabricating polyvinyl alcohol/clay nanocomposites. Ellipsometry measurements demonstrate that the automated spin-LBL method creates composites with bilayer thickness and growth rat...

Gravity drainage is the main mechanism which controls the oil recovery from fractured reservoirs in both gas-cap drive and gas injection processes. The liquid bridge formed between two adjacent matrix blocks is responsible for capillary continuity phenomenon. The accurate determination of gas-liquid interface profile of liquid bridge is crucial to predict fracture capillary pressure precisely. ...

Dental structures capture, retain and fragment food for ingestion. Gnathostome dentition should be viewed in the context of the prey's material properties. Animal muscle and skin are mechanically tough materials that resist fragmentation unless energy is continually supplied directly to the tip of the fracture by some device such as a blade edge. Despite the variety of bladed tooth morphologies...

Water disaster is one of the five natural disasters in coal mines, and it badly threats the lives safety of miners. As well known, the main reason of evoked flooding is water conducted fractured zone in the coal seam. Based on the Maxwell equation, we try to study the relationship between apparent resistivity and stratigraphic dip as well as strata direction. The numerical results show that the...

BACKGROUND The posterior malleolar fragment (PMF) of an ankle fracture can have various shapes depending on the injury mechanism. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the morphological characteristics of the PMF according to the ankle fracture pattern described in the Lauge-Hansen classification by using computed tomography (CT) images. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed CT data of 107 ...

Source mechanisms of 26 large shallow earthquakes are determined in terms of a double-couple point source with a correction for the nondirectional part of source finiteness by using P-wave first motions and long-period Rayleigh wave spectra recorded on WWSSN, IDA, and GDSN networks. The combined use of both data sets allows us to determine the double-couple mechanism uniquely in most cases. Con...

Hydrocarbon wells drilled vertically through longwall coal pillars are vulnerable to severe deformation and potential failure as a result of underground coal mining. The lithology of the host rocks play a critical role in well stability. In this study, a two dimensional finite element method is employed to investigate the horizontal shear offset, vertical delamination, and compression at the we...

[1] Using the DSV Alvin, the relative seafloor gravimeter ROVDOG was deployed at 18 sites on the Atlantis Massif (located at the ridge-transform intersection of the MidAtlantic Ridge and the Atlantis Transform Fault near 30 N, 42 W). These data along with previously collected shipboard gravity and bathymetry provide constraints on the density structure of this oceanic core complex. A series of ...

Proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint injuries remain challenging to hand surgeons [1]. Painless, stable and mobile PIP joint are the main goals for any treatment option of PIP joint [2,3]. Closed reduction and extension block pins [1,2] Open reduction of PIP joint fractures [3,4] and osteochondral hemihamate autograft arthroplasty [5,6] described for treatment of such difficult injuries. Mainte...